Monday, July 1, 2013

This "Really Freaking Hot" beef jerky from Jimmy's Sticky Jerky is among the company's newest flavors, and it comes as jerky aficionados are demanding insanely hotter meat snacks.

Like other brands in the industry, this new "RFH" variety is made with ghost peppers, said to be the hottest chile pepper in the world. But it's also spiked with many other intensely hot peppers as well, and then doused in Sriracha Sauce, to really push the scoville meter above and beyond.

According to the company, "This one is Jimmy's favorite by far, with its combination of face-reddening heat and amazingly sweet flavor which balances the hotness of the Peppers perfectly."

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a lot of sweetness, followed by a strong chile pepper flavor. I can pick up a tangy, saucy flavor, while the heat begins to build. There's also a black peppery flavor.

The chewing brings in more of the chile pepper flavors, but also a noticeable garlic and ginger. Some of the base marinade of soy sauce and worcestershire is lightly detectable.

For being marketed as "Really Freaking Hot", it fits the bill. There's an immediately noticeable burn as soon as I put a piece into my mouth, and it does ramp up to a higher level than the company's other hot/spicy varieties. There's also a good dose of chile pepper flavors to compliment.

Otherwise, the flavors that define this jerky overall seems to be the heavier sweetness mixed with the tangy, perhaps resulting from the use of Sriracha Sauce. The blend of chile pepper flavors adds the next-most significant flavor, while the combination of garlic and ginger is lightly noticeable.

As for how hot this jerky is, I'd rate it on my personal heat scale as "medium hot" (level 4 out of 5). Even with the ghost pepper and the habanero, it doesn't quite meet the same tongue scalding pain of other ghost pepper-based jerky brands, yet it still provides plenty of burn, perhaps at the upper limit of snackability, where you can still shovel in more pieces without having to pause for too long.

The use of Sriracha Sauce, however, is what I see as the big winner of this recipe. It adds a really nice tanginess, that when added to the chile peppers and brown sugar, gives it a faintly fruity character.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, sliced into chunks and strips, some of which are bite-sized, and others enough for two bites. These are all sliced thick.

This is a semi-moist jerky with a semi-moist, lightly sticky, oily surface feel. These pieces are quite tender and flexible. Chewing is largely easy.

The chewing texture starts out feeling quite tender, offering little resistance. They break apart with the first chew and take on a soft, meaty feel. It takes little time to chew down to a soft mass, and by that time it feels meaty, some of which is steak-like, but others more mushy.

I do see some small pieces of fat on a few pieces, but no visible signs of tendon or gristle. I felt some significant stringiness in most bites I took, resulting in a lot of unchewable tissues.

As for clean eating, my fingertips pick up a little bit of sticky, oily film, some of which requires a licking and wiping before touching the keyboard, others do not.

Snack Value

Jimmy's Sticky Jerky sells this Really Freaking Hot beef jerky from its website at a price of $17.99 for a three-pack, with each package at 2.5oz. If you bought three of those 3-packs, shipping comes out to just $5.00. That works out to a price of $2.62 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at that $2.62 per ounce price, it's a great value. I'm getting an overall awesome flavor, good meat consistency, and good chewing texture. Compared to other jerky brands, it's a much better flavor, and a better meat consistency and chewing.

For an intensely hot beef jerky, with habaneros and ghost peppers, at the same $2.62 per ounce price, it's actually a great value as well. Compared to other ghost pepper-based jerky brands, it's reasonably priced, yet offers a lot of burn and some good chile pepper flavors too.

Rating

I'm giving this a best rating.

This Really Freaking Hot beef jerky from Jimmy's Sticky Jerky is not only hot, but also has a very good flavor, that offers the decadent combination of sweet & heat. But it goes beyond that with a tangy character from the use of Sriracha Sauce, that when mixed with the varieties of chile peppers, creates a lightly fruity quality. Then add the base marinade of soy sauce, worcestershire, garlic and ginger, and this really explodes with flavor.

Unfortunately for some of you, you'll have to endure some really freaking hot jerky to get that awesome flavor. But in comparison with other brands of ghost pepper-based jerky, it's not quite as hot. For you chile heads out there, you're still going to get a pleasant burn, a nice rush of endorphins, but still be able to feed these chunks of spiced beef into your mouth without stopping.

This also has the same good chewing and good meat consistency that I found in the company's other beef jerky varieties, easy, meaty, and chewing like real steak.

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About Best Beef Jerky

I'm Steve Johnson, and I've been in the Internet marketing and publishing business since 1997. I've been a life-long fan of beef jerky and decided to merge my profession with my snack food of choice, and gave birth to Best Beef Jerky.

I review beef jerky, turkey jerky, bison jerky, pretty much any meat jerky, even vegan jerky. I review meat sticks, biltong, cecina, carne seca, it's all fair game as long as it's meat, it's dried, and it's a snack.